Task Practice Schedules to Enhance Recovery after Stroke

描述（由申请人提供）：尽管心理学和神经科学取得了巨大的进步，但治疗中风患者的物理治疗师仍然依赖于非特异性指南来确定功能性运动技能重新获得的任务练习时间表。本建议是新颖的，在定义特定的康复实践协议来自心理学习理论，特别强调“微调度”的实践试验，以提高学习。先前在单词学习和运动技能学习方面的研究表明，1）任务呈现可变的练习时间表，或2）单个任务呈现之间的间隔扩大的练习时间表，显着提高学习的长期保持和概括。在这项试点研究中，PI使用手动抓取任务，并建议证明与参与者谁是中风偏瘫，大规模的，随机的，扩大可变的实践时间表影响差异的收购性能和运动技能的学习恢复。此外，使用分层实验设计，他们的目的是显示练习时间表和损伤严重程度之间的相互作用，使最佳的练习时间表取决于中风的严重程度。假设是，轻度赤字的科目受益最大的扩大变量的做法，而中度赤字的科目受益最大的大规模实践时间表。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite tremendous progress in psychology and neuroscience, physical therapists treating patients with stroke still rely on unspecific guidelines to determine task practice schedules for functional motor skill reacquisition. The present proposal is novel in defining specific rehabilitation practice protocols derived from psychological learning theory, with particular emphasis on the "micro-scheduling" of the practice trials to enhance learning. Previous research in word-learning and motor skill learning shows that practice schedules 1) in which the task presentations are variable, or 2) in which the intervals between presentations of individual tasks are expanded, significantly enhance long-term retention and generalization of learning. In this pilot study, the PIs use a manual grasping task, and propose to demonstrate with participants who are recovering from stroke-hemiparesis that massed, random, and expanded variable practice schedules affect differentially the acquisition performance and the learning of motor skills. Further, using a stratified experimental design, they aim to show an interaction between practice schedule and impairment severity such that the best practice schedule depends on stroke severity. The hypothesis is that subjects with mild deficits benefit most from expanded variable practice, whereas subjects with moderate deficits benefit most from massed practice schedules.